Andy Warhol's Assailant Defaced Library Book That She Wrote

From the City Room blog of the New York Times, a remembrance of how Warhol's shooter, Valerie Solanas defaced a copy of the library book called “S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto” (lovely title!) that she herself had authored.

The opening sentence called on women to “overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex.” It was published in paperback; the library had its copy bound in hardback, to minimize the wear and tear, in mid-1976.

Wednesday (today) is the 25th anniversary of Warhol’s death after gall bladder surgery at what was then known as New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, 19 years after Ms. Solanas opened fire and wounded him. She was angry because he had lost the manuscript of a play she had written — a play with an unprintable title that she wanted him to consider. More from the New York Times.